Hackenberg's roots pointing him in right direction

DAVID McKEOWN/Staff Photographer
Surrounded by family and friends, Erick Hackenberg, center, and Nikki Hackenberg, second from left, the father and mother of Penn State quarterback Christian Hackenberg, tell stories during a tailgate party before the Nittany Lions recent game against Kent State at Beaver Stadium.
an NCAA college football game against Kent State in State College, Pa., Saturday, Sept. 21, 2013.

DAVID McKEOWN/Staff Photographer
Penn State freshman quarterback Christian Hackenberg (14) makes a call at the line of scrimmage during a recent game against Kent State at Beaver Stadium. The Tamaqua native has shown the ability to overcome adversity early in his college career.

UNIVERSITY PARK - Maybe, just maybe, the intangible that makes Christian Hackenberg the face of Penn State football present and future and eventually may enable him to live up to his enormous hype is in his Coal Region blood.

No doubt the true freshman and Tamaqua native has shown enough God-given quarterbacking skills in his first four college games to whet the appetites of Nittany Lions faithful and put fear in Penn State opponents: a quick release, a howitzer of a right arm, pinpoint accuracy and the obvious understanding of coach Bill O'Brien's intricate, NFL-style offense, to name a few.

Hackenberg's other skills haven't been as visible to casual fans.

Take his mental toughness.

He put up impressive numbers as a high school junior and senior despite playing with a bull's eye on his back and often ending up on his back. Then he withstood fierce competition from fellow newcomer Tyler Ferguson for the starting job at Penn State this preseason.

Hackenberg quickly ascended into a role as a rare freshman team leader for the Nittany Lions, often exhorting teammates on the field, on the sidelines and in practice, commanding the huddle and line of scrimmage like a seasoned senior and deftly handling postgame interviews with the media.

He's also coolly stared down adversity off the field.

Hackenberg, one of the nation's most sought-after quarterbacks in the Class of 2013, firmly kept his commitment to Penn State after the NCAA handed down unprecedented sanctions against the Nittany Lions football program in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky scandal. He could have gone anywhere, but he stuck with his original decision.

"The reasons why Christian kept his commitment here are tied to our Coal Region values and principles,'' said his father Erick, a star quarterback on Marian High School's Eastern Conference Class B-championship team in 1986. "It's one thing to keep your word and have a sense of commitment and not do it blindly. It's another thing to do it blindly and walk into the firing squad.''

Hackenberg has shown similar pluck once he got on to the field at Penn State.

The Nittany Lions were seemingly in trouble against Syracuse in their season opener after his ill-advised pass fluttered into the hands of an Orange defensive lineman. Syracuse scored a touchdown on the next play, turning a comfortable Penn State victory into a battle. Hackenberg didn't flinch, however, helping the Lions hold on for a 23-17 win.

He then badly misfired on his first five pass attempts and his early fumble was returned for a touchdown against Eastern Michigan in his Beaver Stadium debut one week later, causing some angst in the home crowd.

"We all knew he was hyped for the (home) opener,'' Dr. Richard Miller, Hackenberg's maternal grandfather,

said at the family's tailgate before the Central Florida game on Sept. 14. "We kind of predicted his first throw was going to be about 13 rows into the stands, but he came back. He always does.''

Did he ever.

Hackenberg went on to complete 23 of his final 28 passes against Eastern Michigan for a Penn State freshman single-game record of 311 yards and one touchdown. Nine different receivers were on the other end of his passes.

"He's a self-confident kid,'' O'Brien said. "He's just got a really good demeanor. He's sure of himself. He knows he has good ability. He's a good person. He's a calm guy, which is great for me because I'm not a calm guy.''

It's talent, yes, but it's also hard work and that calmness in the teeth of pressure and the knack for falling down, brushing himself off and trudging upward again that made Matt McGloin a record-setting quarterback at Penn State under O'Brien last year and an Oakland Raider this year. McGloin came to Penn State as a walk-on from Scranton, but eventually blossomed thanks in part to adherence to his Coal Region beliefs.

Same with Hackenberg.

And although he and his family left Tamaqua when he was only 8 years old, his Coal Region traits apparently never left him.

"When people see Christian, they say, 'How is he so mature?''' his father said. "I think it's a combination of who he is as a person - which is how God made him - (and) all of the things that he has been exposed to over the last two years.

"But,'' the elder Hackenberg added, "I also hope it was the way he was raised by his mom (Nikki) and I and those same core Coal Region principles and Coal Region values that we grew up with.''

Moving South

The Hackenbergs had already begun to pass down their Coal Region beliefs to their four similarly athletic-minded sons when a job opportunity for Erick arose and the young family moved from Tamaqua to central Virginia in 2003. Nikki, once a standout volleyball player at Marian and Lehigh University, was the Fillies head volleyball coach at the time, turning them into a state Class A power.

"I said to Nikki, 'This is a chance to move down here and it doesn't cost us a thing. If we don't like it, we could move back in four years. It's a great deal,''' remembered Erick, who played football at the nearby University of Virginia.

"It was hard not to go. There was just going to be so much for them to do down there. It's not like we didn't like the Coal Region - we loved it! We're very proud to say we're from the Coal Region... But instead of focusing on us and staying in the Coal Region and living like kings, we decided to do what would be best for our kids. They were the main push for us to move down there.''

Christian, the oldest of their four boys, was entering third grade at the time. Brandon and J.D. weren't too far behind. Dru, the youngest, was still in diapers.

"I think the move was tougher on the younger guys than it was on Christian because it was a bigger transition for them,'' Erick said. "He was older and had been through enough to understand that he was always going to have friends back there (in the Coal Region). He was always the type of kid that could go somewhere and ... make friends and make it all a seamless transition.''

Just like he would do at Penn State a decade later.

In the meantime, the Hackenbergs encouraged Christian to maintain his relationships with his friends in the Coal Region. So much so that he spends quality time with them when visiting his grandparents and other relatives here. He's even lent a hand at Marian's Big Blue Football Camp, where he helps out Stan Dakosty, his father's high school coach.

"As we go through life (and) go to college, your strongest relationships tend to be with the people you meet in college,'' Erick said. "But you always have those one, two or three people that you grew up with that you have lifelong relationships.''

"He's a real Coal Cracker,'' Miller said. "I've seen his ups and downs. I've seen him handle both the same way... I've seen him mature... He's a special kid.''

Fork Union days

Christian first attracted the attention of Fork Union Military Academy coaches as a sophomore when he won the starting job over an experienced senior and quickly became regarded as one of the top quarterbacks in the nation.

All the major powers wanted him, but Hackenberg found a kindred spirit in O'Brien, whose fingerprints were all over the New England Patriots' offensive juggernaut until he was hired to replace the legendary Joe Paterno at Penn State in January 2012. O'Brien revamped the Lions' offense into a potent force in his first season.

Hackenberg gave his commitment to O'Brien in February 2012, several months before his senior year at Fork Union.

"His line was not there in his junior and senior years, so I saw him go through a lot of hardship,'' said Miller, who attended almost all of Christian's high school games. "But talking straight football, he matured immensely. He was getting chased all over the field like he had a target on his back. He had a lot thrown at him, but he handled it all so well.''

Miller said he was there one night when Christian was sacked nine times in one high school game.

"He was having a really hard time,'' Miller recalled. "I said to him when I saw him on the field, 'You know better. Don't change your techniques. Trust your receivers. Trust your teammates.'... It was the worst game he ever played, but he admitted it. Once he got past that game, it was smooth sailing. The more adversity he went on to face, the more he learned from it and that's the key thing about him.''

On to Penn State

When the NCAA handed down its sanctions against Penn State, Internet rumors swirled about whether or not Hackenberg would keep his verbal commitment.

"What I did when he started the recruiting process and I knew he was going to be recruited heavily was tell him, 'Commitment is commitment. When you commit to the school that you choose to be the right school, you're going to do it with all the boxes checked and all your questions answered,''' his father said. "'You're not going to commit and say, 'I'm not sure.'... You're going to be sure it's the right place.'''

Especially when his first choice was under such heavy scrutiny.

"When everything happened (at Penn State) and the proverbial you-know-what hit the fan, Christian, Nikki and I sat down with a lot of people we kept in our inner circle of trusted people that we know had Christian and the family's best interests at heart. They weren't going to tell us what we wanted to hear... They told us what we needed to hear as if we were part of their own families.

"At the end of the day, it was like: 'What's changed? Has the education changed? No. Has the coaching staff and the opportunity for you to play changed? Has anything else at the school changed? No. Only the number of scholarships changed. Those were the discussions we had with the staff when we come up here. Those were the questions we needed answered.''

The Hackenbergs got an even better answer to that question last week when the NCAA restored five of Penn State's scholarships in 2014 and continuing until the Nittany Lions reach their full complement of 85 in 2016.

By then, O'Brien and Hackenberg should have even more offensive weapons at their disposal.

Until then, Hackenberg will keep throwing and learning, falling down, brushing himself off and trudging upward again.

He's 79 of 127 (62.2 percent) passing for 1,027 yards with five touchdowns and four interceptions through four games this season.

"I told him if he could eliminate six or seven mistakes from him game, that he'll keep improving,'' O'Brien said last week, "and he'll help our football team a lot.''

Four days later, Hackenberg went on to complete only 13 of 35 passes in a 34-0 win over Kent State in the rain at Beaver Stadium.

It's just more adversity for the 18-year-old quarterback as he and the Nittany Lions prepare to enter Big Ten play on Saturday at Indiana. Fortunately, Hackenberg has a coach and the Coal Region mind set to deal with such travails.

"You are the extension (of the coach) on the field,'' Christian Hackenberg said. "You can sort of see things that he can't sometimes. It's your job to get the team in a situation where we can succeed as a group. You have to be the rock, you have to be the foundation, the leader.''

Someone who's as hardened by the toils of his labors as his ancestors were by theirs.

Both on and off the field.

"His grandmother... taught me how to make the (Coal Region) foods that Christian enjoys, so we can enjoy them together,'' said his "Aunt'' Mary Beth (actually his grandfather's cousin), who recently moved to the State College area from Chicago.

Christian often stayed with his "aunt'' during the summer.

"He enjoys fishing and he enjoys hunting just like his grandfather,'' she said. "That's what he was interested in when he first visited. 'Where can I go fly fishing? Where can I fish?' I'll make sure he's never far from home... It's an unexpected joy having him around here.''

Penn State fans would agree.

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